Sunday, April 22, 2012

I’m going on
record here and saying; I actually liked the ending of Mass Effect 3.
Undeniably, it has its problems (all the endings are basically the same video
with minor changes and a different color scheme) and left me scratching my head
afterwards putting all of the pieces together. Yet that’s what made the ending
(for me) absolutely unforgettable. Having now had the time to contemplate said
ending, it’s an unexpected, yet absolutely fitting ending that is well worth
playing the game to see for yourself.

Perhaps I’ll
write you a post one day about why exactly I like said ending. But that’s for
another time. Here’s my review of the full game. In some ways, this review is
more of an analysis of the entire trilogy rather than just the third
installment. Chances are, you’ve heard what I have to say elsewhere. However,
the game play, visual and sound sections will all focus on Mass Effect 3 only,
whereas the Story and Longevity sections will critique Mass Effect 3 as part of
the entire trilogy rather than on it’s own merit. Sit back, there’s a lot of
reading to do.

Side note: I’ve
played very little of Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer, so for the sake of this
review, said multiplayer mode and the Galaxy At War system is excluded.

Mass Effect 3 is
the concluding game in the story of protagonist Commander Shepherd. After
discovering their existence in ME1, then being ignored and discredited by the
galactic community in ME2, the Reapers-an ancient race of gigantic machines who
reproduce by harvesting all intelligent life in the Galaxy every 50,000
years-have finally made their long awaited and dreaded return, and have begun
their invasion of the galaxy. The full weight of this moment is hard to
appreciate unless you’ve played the Mass Effect trilogy from the beginning, but
the Reaper’s arrival is nonetheless a terrifying moment-within minutes of
playing the game for the first time, the Reapers have already conquered Earth,
leaving you to make your escape and set out on a mission to unite the various
races of the galaxy together to mount a resistance against the invading Reaper
forces.

One of the things
that makes Mass Effect so unique is how the trilogy utilizes and relies upon
your experience in previous installments to shape the story. The decisions made
throughout the previous games (including DLC material) are used to determine
events and alliances made during Mass Effect 3 and will affect major plot
points during the story. The various species and characters throughout the
series-whether alien or otherwise-are generally well written (who here can
forget Garrus?), and it can truly feel like you’ve gotten to know them as
people rather than NPCs or Squad Members that act as a tool to drive the plot
forward. Yet undeniably, the overwhelming Reaper invasion brings death and
destruction that will rarely end positively for you-count this as a spoiler or
not, but this is the end of a trilogy, and characters will die, and only some can be saved by your
actions in the game. Yet your experiences with them throughout the first two
games adds weight to these moments that most games cannot achieve through
simple scripted dialogue and set pieces. Mass Effect is a game that is truly
best experienced as a trilogy, and diving into Mass Effect 3 on it’s own won’t be
nearly as rewarding as experiencing it from the very beginning.

Just as vital to
the series is the integration of your own character into the story. The first
Mass Effect allowed you not only to create your own face and gender for
Commander Shepherd, but also to import that same character into Mass Effect 2.
Sadly, Mass Effect 3’s new facial rendering system means that most character
faces cannot be imported to Mass Effect 3, but if you’re willing to ignore this
and start your face from scratch, this is a minor hiccup. Mass Effect’s
signature radial dialogue menu allows your character to take either a ‘Paragon’
(nice guy) or ‘Renegade’ (dickish) approach to in-game conversations, and some
moments actually require that your character has a high reputation in either of
these to achieve the best possible outcome to a situation. The ‘rash decision’
quick time events (pulling a trigger to commit a Paragon or Renegade option),
introduced into Mass Effect 2, further enhance this (Renegades; get ready to
punch a lot of people). The result is that you can literally become yourself as
you see fit in the story and interact as you yourself would in such situations.

Game play wise,
Mass Effect 3 plays generally the same as Mass Effect 2, but with a handful of
new (but less than perfect) improvements. The cover system has been greatly
improved (but still runs into problems on occasion), and a broader range of
enemy types are available (the result of Reapers being able to indoctrinate and
convert various races into soldiers for their own armies), which will force you
out of cover on occasion and improvise new strategies to overcome them. A new
melee system makes close quarter combat far more viable option than previous
games-however, the Heavy Melee option takes a good few seconds to use, and
there is no option to cancel if you’ve missed your target.

Classes generally
have the same powers and abilities as Mass Effect 2, but they no longer
determine what weapons your character uses/excels at. Carrying all five weapons
into combat does have its drawbacks (slower recharging of your various class
powers), requiring you to either modify your weapons to compensate, or choosing
for yourself what weapons to prioritize or remove to best suit your play style.
The result of these changes provides greater flexibility and freedom for you to
choose how you want to play the game-for example, close quarters oriented
players may benefit from choosing a Vanguard class with Shotguns and Assault
Rifles, or a player more accustomed to stealth may go with an Infiltrator class
with Sniper Rifles/Shotguns and SMGs.

One of the issues
that all three Mass Effect games have run into is the task of resource
gathering. The vehicle sections were unpopular in the first game, and Planet
Scanning became a grueling and repetitive chore in Mass Effect 2. The third
game now greatly simplifies the Planet Scanning mini-game by allowing you to
scan sections of a star system to track down War Assets and survivors on
various planets, then performing a one-time planet scan to track down said
asset. However, doing this alerts nearby Reapers to your presence, and they
will attack en-masse if you aren’t careful with your scanning. This new method,
whist still time consuming, cuts down the sheer amount of hours needed to
gather all of the resources with a system, and there were several hair-raising
moments when I was being chased by four Reaper ships at a time whilst trying to
escape a system. The flaw in this system however makes this too simple; if
you’re captured by a Reaper ship, the game reverts to the last auto-save (when
you first entered the system), and all the challenge is taken out once you know
exactly where to find all of the resources.

The visuals of
Mass Effect 3 are at times awe-inspiring and terrifying; seeing a full sized
Reaper stride past you (during game play!) and decimate a dreadnought in front
of you is absolutely stunning. The lighting for much of the game is much darker
than before, creating a new atmosphere of despair and resolve. The music and sound
effects for these moments are equally as amazing and fits the tragic and
terrifying moments throughout the game (the result of Bioware hiring a new
composer for the game). Relying less on electronic/techno music, piano solos
are used to create a sense of sadness and foreboding at times, contrasted by
heavy electronic sounds to add terror. For these reasons, the opening level is
(for me) one of the most unforgettable moments in any game I’ve played,
particularly the end cinematic (I could describe it or link it to a video, but
this moment is best witnessed by playing the game. Download the free game demo
if you’d rather wait to buy the game and see for yourself. Turn the volume up
nice and high too). Asides from some minor texture pop-in and dialogue occasionally
being cut off, the visuals and sounds of the game go together perfectly for the
game.

The Mass Effect
series, being an RPG, takes a great deal of time to complete (I spent 50+ hours
on the third game alone), but well worth experiencing as a whole. Plus the
utilization of the game’s dialogue system and it’s effects on the entire story
means that the whole trilogy is worth playing multiple times to get a different
story each time.

Say what you want
about the ending, but Mass Effect 3 is an unforgettable game that perfectly
caps off the series. Few game series can achieve the level of player investment
and dedication that this series has. I walked away from the game with a
melancholic feeling that I may never return to the universe of Mass Effect and
it’s characters (I still owe Garrus a few drinks at the bar), but satisfied
with the conclusion, even if there is an uncertain future waiting for them. If
you haven’t played the Mass Effect series, it is absolutely worth picking up
the first game and seeing for yourself.

The Verdict

Story: 2.0

Asides from a troublesome ending,
Mass Effect 3 is an emotional ride from beginning to end with memorable
characters and moments of triumph and despair. Best experienced by playing
the previous games.

Gameplay:
1.5

Retains most of the features of ME2,
but more flexible cover options and greater enemy variety improves the
game. Melee is now useful, even if occasionally problematic to use.